The Spitting Image
by Dr. Cameron
Summary: Cameron likes House. House likes Cameron. Both have given up hope on ever forging a relationship. But one girl has something to say about that. Chapter 9 is up! Sorry for the hiatus!
1. Chapter 1

Alright, this fic has one of my favourite storylines. It starts off in the last scene of the episode Kids, where Cameron agrees to come back to work. It's actually the whole scene re-written. Nobody agreed to date anybody. This is another one that I'm not sure where it's headed yet, but I'm working on it.

Disclaimer: House is not mine, but a certain other character who for the time being will remain nameless, is.

Reviews welcome!

* * *

Gregory House made his way down the hall to apartment F. He was scared. He'd never been this nervous in his life. _But I have to do this, I have to get her back_, he thought to himself. With as much courage as he could muster, picked up his cane and knocked on the door. While waiting for her to answer it, his thoughts drifted to all the possible outcomes of the conversation he was about to have. _What if she says no again? What if I inadvertently end up being a jerk? _These questions just made him knock faster and more persistently, as he grew more anxious.

Finally, the door opened. But it wasn't Cameron standing behind it. Or was it? There was a girl standing there, with long dark brown hair, just like Cameron's, and copies of her green eyes that made him melt every time he saw them. But there was one problem. One reason it couldn't be Cameron. This person was 4'9". _Unless Cameron's shrunk in the past 48 hours, I don't think this is her,_ House thought.

"Hi, can I help you?" the girl asked politely. _Whoa, that's just like Cameron too_

"uh, yes, I think," House started to say. He was still a little dumbfounded by the child he'd found standing on Allison Cameron's doorstep. "I'm looking for Dr. Allison Cameron."

"House?" he looked up to see Cameron coming to stand behind the girl, in a bathrobe, her hair dripping with water.

"See, if you wore something like that to work, we probably wouldn't be in this situation," House told her, in typical House form.

Cameron rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"I came to get you to come back to work," he told her.

"We already had this discussion, it's not gonna happen," Cameron said, making to close the door, but House reached up with his hand and stopped it.

"Well, I decided I didn't like your answer."

"Well, tough, you don't get to decide what I do with my life anymore."

"Cameron, please," she could see in his eyes he was begging. This was a switch. House never begged, or at least, he never let her or the others see it. He was too proud for that. Maybe this meant he really did want her back.

Cameron shifted her weight and considered him for a moment. She was about to respond when the shrill ringing of the phone interrupted her thoughts. She turned to look in the direction of the sound, then back at House apologetically, and said, "Sorry, but I have to get that."

"No, no, go ahead," he said, and watched her disappear into the apartment. He was still starring in the direction she had gone when he heard something.

"Excuse me, mister, but who are you?" it was the little girl again.

House looked down at Cameron's look-alike and let out a small smile. She _was_ really cute. "I'm Dr. Gregory House, I work with your…"

"My mom."

_Your what?_ Since when did Cameron have a daughter? House would know if Cameron had a child. He would have heard about her. He always pictured Cameron to be the type that was always gushing about their children to everyone they met.

"You looked shocked," the girl commented.

"uh, well, actually, I am. I wasn't aware Cameron had any children."

The girl smiled up at him. _Oh my God_, they had identical smiles. This was getting too scary. Then the girl's smile turned into a frown as though she were pondering something.

"Wait, aren't you the guy that my mom quit working for?"

"Yes, but I'm trying to rectify that situation right now."

"She doesn't want to come back to work for you," the girl said. _A little forward for one of Cameron's offspring,_ House thought. Maybe that's the one thing she got from her father.

At that exact moment, Cameron came back into the room. "Sorry about that," she said.

"Oh, that's okay, I was just getting to know your daughter here," House said, his tone indicating that he had just discovered something that he wasn't supposed to know about.

Cameron looked down at her daughter, and then back at House. He could tell that she wasn't happy with this latest development.

"Honey, why don't you go get ready for bed, it's getting late. I'll be in to tuck you in in a minute," Cameron said to her. The girl nodded, and turned to House. "It was nice meeting you Dr. House."

House smiled. "It was nice meeting you too…"

"Hayley," she supplied.

"Hayley," he repeated the name.

Once she was out of earshot, House began his ridicule of Cameron. "So, when were you planning on telling me you have a daughter?"

"When it was any of your business. Which it never was," she shot back.

"You don't think that your _boss_ had the right to know you had a child to support?"

"Would you have raised my salary if you did know?"

That got him silent. Cameron stood up a little straighter. "Besides, your not my boss anymore, so why are we even discussing this?"

"Because I want to be your boss again."

"Well that makes one of us."

_Damn, she is on tonight. Gonna have to grovel_. "What do you want, better parking space, salary raise, what? I'll do anything, just come back to work."

"Anything?" she asked, intrigued.

"Well, I'm not gonna jump off a bridge."

She laughed. _Well, that's good, at least she still thinks I'm funny_, he thought. But then her face became serious again. "House, I already accepted a position elsewhere."

_Damn it. Too late. No, it can't be, I have to get her to quit this new place_. "Have you started there yet?" he asked, hoping she'd answer in the negative.

She got an uneasy look on her face, like she thought he was planning something. "Well, no, not yet."

"Good, then there's still time to back out."

"uh, no, just because you want me to come back to work for you doesn't mean I'm going to drop everything and comply. Like I said, you're not my boss anymore. Now, goodnight," she said, and once again shut the door in his face.

He stood outside for a minute and hung his head. Lucky she was at the end of a hallway, because if anyone had heard his next words they may have thought he was crazy. "Can't get rid of me that easily, I'm gonna get you back, I'm not gonna give up." With that, he turned around and headed home to spend another night alone with just his whiskey and his piano, and berate himself for being such a moron.

After Cameron closed the door, she headed down the hallway to the back of her apartment to fulfill her promise. She knocked on Hayley's door, and heard her call out for her to come in.

She opened the door and smiled at her little girl who was sitting up in bed waiting for her to come and say goodnight. It had been tough, but she thought that the two of them had made it alright for the past eight years. Being a single parent was scary, but, without any other choice, Cameron had stepped up and now she loved her life, and wouldn't give it up for the world.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

"Hi," Hayley responded.

"So, do you want me to read you a story?" Cameron asked.

"um, actually, I wanted to ask you something," Hayley said cautiously.

"Sure, what is it?"

"You know that guy that was here?"

"Dr. House."

"Yeah, him. Why don't you want to go back to work for him?"

Cameron sighed, Hayley had always been a perceptive girl. Just like Cameron in her childhood. Having this alike made Cameron realize that she had to be honest with her daughter. When she was that age, she always hated how adults dismissed what she said and were never straight with her, because they thought she didn't understand.

She went to sit next to her on the bed, and put her arm around her shoulders. "Well, for a lot of reasons," she started.

"Like what?" Hayley asked, looking up at her.

"Dr. House can be…not so nice at times. He doesn't always think about what he says before he says it."

"So he hurts people's feelings?"

"Yeah, unfortunately he does."

"Did he hurt your feelings?"

"Yes."

"But aren't you always telling me not to hold grudges and to forgive people? That's what you said when Lucy stole my Barbie."

_Why do things parents say always come back to bite them in the ass?_ Cameron wondered to herself. "Well, this is a bit different than that."

"How?"

Cameron paused. "Remember how you liked Richie Silverman last year, but he was always hitting you and said he didn't like you?" Hayley nodded. "My relationship with House was kind of like that."

"He threw snowballs at you?"

Cameron laughed. "No, but he did make me feel like he didn't like me. You remember how sad you were when you thought Richie didn't like you, right? Well, I didn't like it either, so I decided to leave."

Hayley considered this for a moment, and then spoke again. "I think he really does like you."

Cameron looked startled. "What makes you say that?"

"When you went to answer the phone, he seemed really nervous, like I always was around Richie. He was really sincere, and I don't think he's gonna take no for an answer. You should go for it Mom."

Hayley's words took Cameron by surprise. She wasn't prepared to hear this. "I think it's time for you to go to sleep," she said, standing up. "You've got school in the morning."

"Okay," Hayley said, and laid down in bed as Cameron pulled up the covers around her.

"Goodnight," she said to her daughter, kissing her on the head.

"Goodnight," Hayley replied. "I love you mommy."

"I love you too sweetheart," Cameron said, smiling.

Hayley closed her eyes and Cameron left the room, softly closing the door behind her. She stood outside and considered her daughter's words. _Maybe she's right. Maybe I shouldn't give up on House just yet_. _Great, now I'm accepting love advice from an 8 year old_. Cameron shook her head and headed further down the hall to her own bedroom. She'd think about it, but that was all she was willing to do for now.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, finally, here's chapter 2 of the Cam/Hayley story. I promise, things will get rolling in the next chappy, but I just love exploring the Hayley character, so I want to drag this out as long as I can, and write as many mother/daughter scenes as I can.

Please read and review!

* * *

House had failed. Again. He hated that. He always got the last word, and everything he wanted. But last night he still wasn't able to convince Cameron to come back to work for him.

And then there was the discovery of the daughter, which had really thrown him off. Who knew? She hid it well. Or, he should say, hid her well. But why would she want to? As near as House could figure it, the girl must have been the product of her six month marriage. Maybe that's why. He knew that she probably regretted telling him about her marriage in the first place, who wouldn't? He's a jerk. You don't typically want to tell your deepest, darkest secrets to a jerk.

But House couldn't help wondering how Hayley would feel about her mother keeping her a secret. It certainly wouldn't do wonders for her self-esteem, and Cameron didn't seem like the person that would do that to a child. On the other hand, he was sure that whatever Cameron's reasons for keeping Hayley a secret were, they were good ones, and she had thought them through thoroughly.

Now, how to get her back. He needed a new plan of action. Going to her apartment and begging clearly wasn't doing the trick. Unfortunately, he couldn't continue his plan-hatching, as he was interrupted by Foreman and Chase, coming in to update on the patient. House was taken away from his Cameron thoughts for the rest of the day.

"Did you ever talk to Dr. House again?" Hayley asked her mother as they got out of the car.

"Huh? Oh, no. I still haven't decided if I want to," Cameron told her daughter.

Hayley cocked her head at her mom and sighed. "Just go back already! You know you want to!"

"Hayley, you know I already accepted a position at another hospital. I'm starting there next week."

"Yeah, but you could always back out."

"The world doesn't work that way."

"I thought that with House, the world worked however he wanted it."

Cameron smiled down at her. She really was a smart kid. It scared her sometimes how often she had adult conversations with her eight year old daughter.

"I'll tell you what," she said, placing her arm around her daughter and steering her towards the building they had parked in front of. "You go in there and dance your little heart out and I'll consider going back to work for Dr. House."

"Deal!" Hayley said, a grin spreading across her face.

"Okay, I'll be back to pick you up in an hour," Cameron said.

They said their goodbyes and Hayley ran inside her dance studio to fulfill her end of the deal.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks so much for the positive feedback guys, I really do appreciate it. Alright, now I have a really good idea of where this story is going, so expect updates more often:) I wrote this in the middle of the night because even though I was yawning I couldn't sleep, and I had this idea floating around in my head that I just had to get down.

And y'know what I realized? Hayley's initials are HC, lol. Is that fate or what?

Enjoy!

* * *

Cameron was in the drugstore trying to locate Hayley's preferred flavour of toothpaste (strawberry) when she heard the sound of something crashing to the floor. As she moved around the corner to see if she could help, she heard swearing. But it wasn't the swearing that made her stop dead in her tracks; it was the voice of whom the swearing belonged to. 

As she completed the walk into the next aisle she came face to face with none other than Gregory House.

"House? Are you stalking me now?" Cameron asked half-jokingly.

"No, are you stalking me?" he countered.

"No!" Cameron replied, shocked.

House laughed. She was just too easy. "I just ran out of batteries for my gameboy," he told her. "Y'know, can't go a day without beating Mario," he smiled at her.

She smiled in return. "Yeah, can't have that."

There was a moment of silence before Cameron remembered the batteries on the floor and bent down to pick them up. Surprisingly, House followed suit. The two of them had the mess cleaned up in no time.

"So," House said, as they rose to their feet. "Is there still no way I can convince you to come back to work for me?"

Cameron smiled, she really was enjoying this. But then, remembering Hayley's words, she didn't shut him down right away. "I don't know, what are you prepared to offer me?"

"Oh, _now_ you're willing to negotiate?" House asked, slight annoyance creeping into his voice.

"Well, let's just say someone convinced me to not be so close-minded," she responded.

"Let me guess, about yay-tall," House gestured with his hand, "huge green eyes and an even bigger smile?"

"Yeah, that'd be the one," Cameron said.

"Well then, how 'bout this; I'll raise your salary by 20, and get Foreman and Chase to answer my mail every once and a while."

Cameron considered this. He was a hard guy to say no to, even though she'd done it twice in the last 72 hours. "Throw in an extra week's vacation and you've got yourself a deal," she finally responded.

"Done," House answered immediately.

They shook on it, and then headed towards the check-out. Once they had made their purchases, House turned to her. "Oh, and remind me to thank that daughter of yours next time I see her," He winked at her as he walked out the door.

"…And Port de Bras back," the dance teacher called out.

Her students followed suit, and as Hayley Cameron pulled herself back up, she saw her mother smiling at her from doorway, where all of the parents were gathered.

"Grande plie to finish." The girls did so. "Alright, good job ladies. Remember to practice, and I'll see you next week."

The calm room became a bustle of activity as the girls ran to grab their stuff and the parents entered the room. Allison went over to her daughter as she was taking off her ballet slippers.

"Hey, how'd it go?"

"It was fun," Hayley responded.

"That's good. So, I have a surprise for you!"

"It's more than the toothpaste, right?" Hayley asked, looking up.

Cameron laughed. "Yes, silly, it's more than the toothpaste. I accepted Dr. House's job offer."

"You did!" Hayley squealed.

"Yup, I ran into him in the drugstore, and we got to talking, and now I'm going back to work for him."

"That's great mommy!" Hayley told her.

"I thought you'd think so."

"So, now do you have to tell the other place that you're not gonna work for them?"

Cameron had forgotten about that. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"They're not gonna be, like, mad at you or something, are they?"

"I hope not. They might be a little disappointed, but it's better that I back out now as opposed to three weeks after I start."

"Okay," Hayley said, satisfied with that answer. Yes, she had wanted her mother to go back to working for House, but she didn't want her to get in trouble either.

"C'mon, let's go get some chow," Cameron said to her daughter, and together they walked out of the studio.

"So, she's really coming back?" A bewildered Wilson asked House.

"Yep," he responded non-challantly.

"Why?"

House rolled his eyes at his friend. "Because I'm just too hard to resist."

Wilson laughed. "Yeah, right. She pulled out of a job with Yule of all people to come back and put up with your bullshit because she has the hots for you."

"Well, I'm sure that was part of the reason, but I did have a little help in convincing her."

"Ah-ha!" Wilson exclaimed rather loudly, pointing his finger in House's face.

House looked at him as if he had three heads and Wilson, embarrassed, removed the finger.

"So who was it? That helped you, I mean?"

A grin spread across House's face. "Are you ready for this one?" he asked, getting all giddy like a little boy. "Cameron has a daughter!"

"_What?_"

"Yeah, that's what I said. But it's true. I met her when I went to her place the second time. She's the spitting image of Cameron."

"…but, how? When?"

"Do you really wanna know how?" House asked. Wilson vigorously shook his head, so House proceeded to answer the second question. "She looks to be about eight, so I'm assuming that Cameron's husband was the father."

"Wow, how come we never heard about her before?"

"Dunno, but she's a pretty cool kid. And hey, if she got Cameron to come back to work for me, then she's already got major points in my book."

"Do we ever get to meet her?"

House looked thoughtful for a moment, and then a smile spread across his face. "Something tells me that this isn't the last we're going to see of Hayley Cameron."


	4. Chapter 4

This next part is all Cam/Hayley, and it's designed to demonstrate the bond between mother and daughter. After all, the story is about them, so there has to be lots of chapters centering around them before I dive into a House/Cam romance (which I will).

I'd also like to point out I have never actually been to Myrtle Beach (although I'd love to) and all the information in this story I was able to attain off their website. I think there's enough though.

* * *

On a rainy Monday morning, Allison Cameron once again pulled up to Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. She smiled to herself as she parked her car. There was something about this place, Hayley was right, she just couldn't stay away. 

When she entered the diagnostics office she was greeted by a cheerful looking Foreman and Chase. The two came over to hug her and welcome her back, and then plunged straight in with the questions.

"So, we hear your mini-me was very instrumental in getting you back here," Foreman announced.

"My mini-me?" Cameron asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Her name is Hayley."

"Right, Hayley, but still, from what we hear she really helped House out," Chase replied.

"Yeah, I guess she did." Cameron went to set her bag down just as House entered the office with their new case. He rattled on a bit, infusing the conversation with a few snide remarks before sending them off to run tests. Yes, everything was back to normal at Princeton Plainsboro, and Cameron was glad to be back.

HMDHMDHMD

For the next month or so, the team was constantly asking Cameron questions about Hayley. What's her favourite colour? What kind of music does she like? And the most important; When do we get to see her?

Cameron was glad that her co-workers were embracing her daughter. It really did mean a lot to her to know that they wanted to be involved in her life. Kind of like having lots of uncles, and an aunt.

When July came, Cameron decided to use that extra week's vacation and take Hayley to Myrtle Beach. She had always loved the place as a child. She and her family frequented it while she was growing up, and she always said that one day, when she had children, she wanted to share it with them.

They flew down to South Carolina on the Sunday, and checked into their hotel with no hassle. They were staying at the Marriott, and as soon as the Cameron women laid eyes on it they couldn't stop thinking how beautiful it was.

"Wow, this is so cool mommy!" Hayley exclaimed, eyes darting around the room, trying to see everything.

"Yeah, it's gorgeous. Even more beautiful than the pictures," Cameron responded.

They went up to their room to unload their stuff before getting ready to head to the beach. It was a quaint little room, yellow coloured walls, just as inviting as they were in their home. They had a gorgeous ocean view, and Hayley rushed out to the balcony to take a closer look.

"Be careful," Cameron called.

Every since the plane had touched down in South Carolina Hayley hadn't been able to stop smiling. It was the brightest and most beautiful place she had ever seen. She understood why her mom loved it so much.

"Can we go down to the beach now?" she asked her mother expectantly.

Cameron smiled at her. "Of course, let's get changed."

Fifteen minutes later the two left their hotel room in bikinis and armed with SPF 15. They spent a relaxing afternoon down at the beach, laughing uncontrollably while splashing each other with water. Hayley was quite the little fish. She had always been a strong swimmer, yet another thing she got from her mother, and wanted to show off her moves. She even did some handstands in the water.

When it was dinnertime, they gathered their stuff and went back into the hotel. Since they had just gotten there, they were going to eat in the hotel dining room. They weren't going to start exploring till tomorrow.

"So, what do ya feel like tonight?" Cameron asked as she picked up a menu.

Hayley looked at her kids menu and selected the chicken nuggets. Cameron orderedthe salmonand as they sat waiting they gushed about all the activities they were going to do while on vacation.

After dinner they went to the gift shop to rent a movie to watch in their room. Hayley picked out Cinderella, her personal favourite, and the girls sang along to the memorable tunes while they watched Lumiere and the mice dance around the screen.

Later on, when Hayley had gone to bed, Cameron stood out on the balcony watching the ocean and thinking. She was thinking about how lucky she was to have a daughter like Hayley and how much she valued being able to spend time with her like this. True, it wasn't like she had always planned, where her child would have their father around, but that had been decided by fate, it had been out of her hands.

"I'm always gonna make sure she knows how much you loved her,"

The wind picked up and Cameron headed back inside.

HMDHMDHMD

The next morning was a bright and sunny one, and Hayley jumped straight out of bed.

"C'mon Mommy, let's go!"

"Mmmm" came the response.

"Mommy!"

Cameron sat up in bed. "Alright, alright, I'm up. Let's get this show on the road."

Today they were going to the Wild Water Park. They got into the rental car and Cameron drove, all the while listening to Hayley list off all the water slides she wanted to try.

It turned out that Hayley was a master at finding the slides that were the coolest and the easiest to get through the lines of. She went on the White Water Express (which she and Cameron shared an inner tube for), the Dark Hole, and the Head Rush. She'd wanted to try the Triple Dip Serpentine Slide Wonder, but Cameron nixed that idea.

"No way," she'd said. "The Head Rush is as scary as your gonna get."

They also checked out the wave pool and the lazy river, and whenever the bell rang to signal another wave coming from the wave pool, both girls felt an adrenaline rush that Cameron remembered so fondly from when she was a child.

When they were wrinkled like two prunes, they dried off and went go-karting. They ended up getting into a serious battle with a father-son duo, but of course, Allison had always been the best in her family at go-karting, so they took them down easily.

"Those were some nice moves out there," the man had remarked to Cameron afterward.

"Thanks," she responded.

"I can't believe I got beaten by a girl," the son whined.

"Ha ha!" Hayley said triumphantly.

"Hayle," Cameron warned.

They said their goodbyes and parted ways.

When the girls finally left the water park, they were starved. Hayley's stomach growled.

"Mom, where are we gonna eat?"

"Don't worry, I have a place in mind."

Cameron pulled up to her favourite place in Myrtle Beach; Broadway at the Beach. Just like she had been at that age, Hayley was completely taken with it. They had everything there. It was almost like a little city.

They got out of the car and Cameron led her to The Hard Rock Café. It was a lively restaurant, and the music was just loud enough for them to hear it and still enjoy their meal.

When they were done and the sun started to set, they walked around to burn off dinner. Cameron told Hayley stories of her experiences at Myrtle Beach as a child, and all the crazy antics her brother had pulled. Hayley always enjoyed hearing about her Uncle Mike. He was the family clown, always getting into mischief. In some ways, she took after him. She had her moments of rebellion in contrast to her sweet, good-girl nature she had inherited from her mother.

"Oh, and tomorrow I want you to see the fireworks," Cameron told Hayley as they made their way across the parking lot.

Myrtle Beach put on a fireworks show every Tuesday night, and it had always been Cameron's favourite part of the vacation. Huddled up watching bursts of colour in the sky, it mesmerized her when she was Hayley's age.

"Cool," Hayley responded.

Dead tired, they walked into their hotel room and crashed right onto the beds, neither of them moving till morning.

HMDHMDHMD

They spent Tuesday shopping and exploring at Broadway at the Beach. Hayley was in heaven at the Disney store, and made her mother buy enough shirts and stuffed toys, and other memorabilia to sink a ship, while Cameron decided that she needed five new pairs of shoes.

Once they were completely exhausted from shopping they went to get ice cream and sat on the benches.

"Look Hayle," Cameron said, pointing across the grounds at the Dragon's Lair Fantasy Golf. "Doesn't that look like fun?"

"Yeah! I get the pink ball!" Hayley declared.

It was the most creative miniature golf set-up Cameron had ever seen. It looked like it was straight out of the medieval times, and had a statue of a fire-breathing dragon that was 30- feet high.

"This is so cool," Hayley said, as she manoeuvred her way around the course.

Mini golf seemed to be a bit harder than Cameron remembered, and by the time they finished their game Hayley had beaten her.

"Good job Hayle," Cameron said.

"Thanks. So, how 'bout as an award you raise my allowance?"

Cameron laughed. "Nice try kid, but no."

Finally, dusk set and they made their way over to watch the fireworks. The show did not disappoint. It was amazing! Hayley and Cameron couldn't take their eyes off it.

When it was over, the two made their way to the car, still in la-la land. Hayley was going on and on about how she was gonna tell all her friends about this. She'd be the coolest kid in school.

**That's all for today folks, but the vacation's not over. More soon:)**


	5. Chapter 5

**So it occurred to me the girls were still on vacation. If I have to be back, then so do they:)**

**Reviews make me happy.**

* * *

The next day the girls headed off to Captain Dick's Marina to go see the dolphins. They were Cameron's favourite sea animals, and Hayley loved them too.

They headed down the dock and boarded the vessel, called the Osprey. It was a small little boat, with another couple with their grandchild, and the tour guide and boat operator on board. The tour guide's name was Jennifer, and she seemed to really know her stuff about dolphins. It impressed Cameron.

"Unfortunately, there are some dolphins on the endangered species list, such as the pink dolphin and the Amazon River dolphin, but here at Myrtle Beach we still have a good amount of these beautiful animals. As you may already know, dolphins are very friendly creatures; and-" Jennifer was cut off by a gorgeous bottle nosed dolphin that jumped up into the air, splashing water all over the Cameron women. Hayley giggled as she watched him; it looked sort of like he was smiling at her. "-you may get splashed." Jennifer finished. Cameron smiled at her as she pulled her wet hair out of her face.

They continued on with the tour, seeing a few more dolphins come to the surface, and they even got the driver to slow the boat down so they could try to pet them.

After their sea adventures, the girls headed off to Broadway at the Beach again. This time they went inside the Palace Theatre, where Cameron had reserved them tickets for Le Grande Cirque, a show that was impossible to get tickets for. It was Cirque D'Soeil to the extreme, and completely mesmerized the audience as they took in what was happening in front of them.

First, out came a clown named Dizzy. He wandered around the stage as though looking for something, and although it was typical of this situation, Hayley still loved it when he fell down and got hit in the head by blunt objects. Hayley had never been one of those kids that had been afraid of clowns. At her fifth birthday party she'd had a clown. Her fifth was one of her favourite birthdays. Her mom had arranged a huge party with all her friends at her grandparent's house, since they had the space, and the Cameron's apartment didn't, and the clown had made Hayley a balloon animal of a dog. She'd spent the rest of the afternoon begging her mother to buy her a real dog. It didn't work.

Following Dizzy, there was an endless stream of acrobats, doing incredibly impressive, and as Cameron caught herself thinking, stupid things, such as making pyramids with the people on the bottom riding unicycles, and of course people flying through hoops. Cameron concluded that this was not a show for the faint hearted.

"Can I do that?!" Hayley asked her mother as they left the theatre at the end of the show.

"No!" Cameron exclaimed, startled. Where did her daughter get that fearlessness from? It must have been from Aidan. His brevity had always contrasted with her timidness, and the two very different qualities were shown in Hayley at different moments. It always made Cameron smile to see that she really was a perfect mix of the two of them. Something they had together.

"But it would be so much fun!"

"The answer's no Hayle,"

* * *

Maybe not my best work, I don't know, but was the ending cute? I was aiming for cute. 


	6. Chapter 6

This'll be the last part of the vacation. I've gotta bring them back for phase two of the story (in other words, yes, I'll be getting House and Cam together shortly:))

All reviewers get cookies!

* * *

They'd pretty much explored all there was to see at the paradise known as Myrtle Beach, and now it was Saturday, their last day on vacation. Neither of the women wanted to leave. Cameron had decided that she could grow quite accustomed to this way of living, and didn't really have all that large of a desire to go back to work with House and the boys. She liked being pampered here, much, much better. 

But they did have to go, and so they were winding down their week, when Hayley insisted that they go to the Pavilion amusement park before they left.

"We _have_ to go," she told her mother on Friday night.

"Alright, alright," Cameron said. They piled into the rental car and headed off to the park.

It turned out to be the closing season, which caught Cameron off guard. This place had been there since she and her brother came with their parents when she was young. However, being some of the last customers to ever be there did give them some perks.

They got through the lines much faster than they usually would have, and it seemed as though the Cameron part of Hayley was finally starting to kick in, when she first laid eyes on the Hurricane Category 5 roller coaster, the biggest and baddest of the whole park.

"Uh, no thanks Mom. I think I'm good just going in the haunted house and on the Tilt-A-Whirl."

Cameron laughed as she looked at her daughter. "'kay sweetie. Frankly I don't blame you," she winked at her as she led Hayley off in the direction of the haunted house.

Finally, the day came to a close. Cameron and Hayley headed back to their hotel room for one last night, before boarding the plane back to Princeton.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey people! Guess what? I didn't make you wait a month for an update! Yay! Okay, now, this chapter does have some medical stuff in it, and I do expect there to be some inconsistencies. I'm very sorry, but as I am not a doctor, that was unavoidable. Please forgive me if you're one of those people that understands all this jargon and knows for a fact that I've made mistakes. Thank you.

* * *

Gregory House rolled over in his bed and groaned. He had been right in the middle of a dream about him in a threesome with Swedish supermodels, but was then rudely awoken by the sound of his phone ringing.

"Damnit!" he exclaimed in frustration. "It's 2:00 in the freakin' morning! What the hell is Cuddy's problem?!"

Finally, he couldn't stand the ringing anymore and just picked up the phone.

"What?!"

"House!" Cuddy's voice came through the receiver. "I need you to come back to the hospital."

"Why? You want a little midnight rendezvous?"

"No you ignorant twerp! Your patient just went into cardiac arrest. You know, the one you cured earlier today? We've got him stable, but you and your team need to come down here."

"I don't suppose we can just tell him to wait till morning?"

"HOUSE!"

"Alright, alright, I'll be there soon," he said defeatedly, and hung up without saying goodbye.

HMDHMDHMD

House groggily made his way through the front doors of PPTH. _Am I even awake?_ He thought to himself. _Cuddy's lucky I made it here alive._

"There you are!" Cuddy said, rather loudly, as she came out of nowhere. _She has a ridiculous amount of energy for this time of night. _"He has developed three more symptoms. Cardiac arrest, obviously, red splotches on his skin, and discoloured urine."

"Joy," House responded.

They stopped in front of the elevator and Cuddy looked around, confused. "Where's your team?"

"They're coming." The doors opened and House stepped inside. "You know, Cuddy, if you really wanted to spend the night with me so bad, all you had to do was ask, you didn't have to wait till a life needed saving."

Cuddy rolled her eyes at him. "Go cure this guy," she walked off and the doors closed.

HMDHMDHMD

Chase walked through the door of the diagnostics office equally as groggily as House had 20 minutes earlier.

"What took you so long?!" House berated him.

"Sorry, it takes a lot longer to drive here when you're dangerously close to falling asleep." He snapped at him as he plopped down in a chair. "Besides, I'm the first one here."

"Okay, so obviously we didn't fix our guy. What'd we miss?"

Chase was silent for a few moments. House turned around from where he stood facing the whiteboard. "Well?! Don't just sit there, say something!"

Chase blinked a few times before he finally spoke. "Cancer."

"Why?"

"Because there are lots and lots of kinds of those."

"Look, I don't like being up this early either, but work with me here, and then we can all go home."

Chase sighed and looked at the board. Neck stiffness, abdominal pain, sensitivity to light, a fever that had lasted a few days, and now cardiac arrest, red splotches of skin, and discoloured urine.

"Encephalitis, Hepatitis, House, anything could have caused all of that."

"Yes, but only one thing did. Find it for me." And with that he predictably retreated into his office.

HMDHMDHMD

Chase had run about five different tests when Foreman finally showed up.

"Where have you been?!" He asked accusingly.

Foreman looked confused. "House just called me. I got here as soon as I could."

"But he called me 45 minutes ago!"

Foreman smirked. "Well then I guess that's your problem, isn't it?"

Chase rolled his eyes and Foreman sat down to look over the file. A few seconds later, House walked into the room.

"What about a virus?"

"Stool sample was negative," Chase answered.

"Hmm…well, Foreman's here, so you can run more tests. In fact, redo all those tests."

Chase looked startled. "Wh-what? You mean _all_ of them? As in every one we've done since he's been admitted?"

"Why not? We've got the lab all to ourselves."

Chase looked like he was going to faint, but then dutifully followed Foreman out the door.

HMDHMDHMD

House, Chase, and Foreman were standing around in House's office, going over their latest information. Or lack of information, as it seemed to be.

"So basically we still have no idea what Mr. Thornton has," Foreman concluded.

"Alright then, time to bring in the final duckling," House said making his way over to the phone.

"Oh, _now_ it's okay to bring her in?" Foreman asked, annoyed.

"I didn't see the point in waking you all for this. I thought you'd each be capable of solving this without your fellow duckies there to help you. Apparently I was wrong." He said as he placed the phone on speaker and started dialling.

"So why does Cameron get to be last?" Chase whined.

"Because, the beauty needs her beauty sleep." Neither Foreman nor Chase had the time to say anything to that as the call connected and the phone started to ring.

After three rings, Cameron finally picked up.

"I hate you."

"I thought you loved me."

"House?"

"Yep, it's me. Get your butt down here. Patient relapsed. It's not what we thought."

Cameron groaned. "It's Lupus. Go away."

"I thought you were supposed to be the one that was willing to drop everything at a moment's notice and help people."

"Well maybe my generosity ran out."

"Yeah right. You're luckier than Foreman and Chase. They've already been here for over an hour. We need you, get down here."

Cameron was silent for a moment. "And what do you propose I do with Hayley?"

"Bring her." House stated simply.

"What?" Cameron asked, bewildered, while Foreman and Chase raised their eyebrows at House.

"Why not? You can't get a babysitter at this hour anyways. Somebody will always have their eye on her and she'll probably go right back to sleep."

There was more silence on the line. "Fine, I'll be right there."

"Good girl," House said and ended the call.

HMDHMDHMD

It was six in the morning and they'd finally cured their patient. Again. It turns out, he actually did have Lupus, and the other symptoms were all explained by previous genetic conditions that _someone_ forgot to tell them about. Cameron had gone to start treatment, House was already out the door, and Chase and Foreman had collapsed into chairs in the conference room. They were about to fall asleep right then and there, when a friendly face walked in from House's office.

"Hi!" Hayley greeted them, in a rather chipper voice. "Whatcha doin'?"

The boys looked at her amazed. "Aren't you tired?" Foreman asked.

"Nope. I'm an early bird," she stated proudly.

"Must have gotten that from your mother," Chase commented, leaning forwards to rest his head on the table.

"And I heard the janitor down the hall. He was kinda loud," she confessed.

"I see," Foreman said. "Well, I'm sure your mom will be back soon to take you home."

"Can I ask you guys a question?"

Foreman and Chase looked at each other. "Sure."

"Do you think Dr. House likes my mom?"

Chase smirked at this, but Foreman answered first. "Well, actually, I think it's a mutual attraction. I think they both like each other. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I think she likes him, a lot, but he's too scared to ask her out."

"Fair enough, but are you saying you wanna do something about that?" Chase questioned.

A smile crept onto Hayley's face. "Yeah, kind of. And I think I have a plan, if you guys will help me."

Foreman smiled at her. "Okay kid. What's this plan of yours?"


	8. Chapter 8

I would like to thank MizzLizzyMizzy for the email she sent me telling me to get writing again. I always love to hear from my readers, and that message was really sweet, so thank you. And the rest of you can thank MizzLizzyMizzy for a new update:)

It also occurred to me that I offered the reviewers of chapter 6 cookies if they reviewed it, and I forgot to follow through on that promise. So, I'll fix that now.

(hands Chapter Six reviewers a plate of cookies.)

There, now, on with the show!

* * *

"Ouch! These leaves are pointy ya know!" 

"Sorry, but the space is a little bit confined over here."

"Will you both shut up!"

If there were a contest for being the snoopiest person on the planet, Cuddy, Foreman, Chase, Hayley, and Wilson would win in a five-way tie, hands down. They were all currently attempting to hide behind a bush at Café Spileto's, trying to spy on Gregory House and Allison Cameron.

TWO DAYS EARLIER

"Alright kid, what's this plan of yours?" Foreman asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"Well," Hayley said. "I was thinking, we've got to get them together, make it seem like a random thing, they just ran into each other, but make it romantic too."

"I'm assuming you have an idea of how to do that?" Chase piped up.

"Yeah. What if we told both of them to go to a certain place at a certain time, but make up a reason, and not tell them that the other one's going to be there?"

Chase looked like he was pondering her suggestion. "It could work. But we'd have to be really sneaky."

"And where would they meet?" Foreman asked.

"Hey, I'm not the one with all the ideas," Hayley said. "But I was thinking some kind of romantic restaurant. And since I'm not old enough, I was hoping you guys could handle that part. Like, make reservations and stuff."

"Yeah," Foreman said, nodding. "We could do that."

"Wait, wait," Chase said. "How do we even know that once they figure out this is a scam they won't turn around and come after us?"

"We have to strand them there."

"Are you suggesting, we do what exactly? Steal their car wires? I thought you didn't do that anymore, Foreman."

Foreman glared at him, and Chase looked away. Hayley looked back and forth between them, confused, and so she decided to continue.

"No, we just have to keep them from finding out." she said. "If they're at dinner, let's say you guys are supposed to be meeting them, to do your doctor stuff, and when they call you, you say you're on your way."

HMDHMDHMD

Cuddy and Wilson had said they wanted to be involved as soon as they heard about it, much to the surprise of Foreman and Chase. Cuddy had been the big, secret power in the whole thing. In order to eliminate suspicion, she sent out pages to the two of them, saying that she needed to meet them all there, to discuss hospital business. The five Peeping Toms now had a semi-clear view of the table from where they stood behind the plant, yet they were still struggling to stay hidden. House and Cameron still had no idea of what was really going on.

As Allison Cameron approached the table the maitre d' had pointed her in the direction of, reservation under Cuddy, party of six, she was surprised to see her boss, Gregory House, being the only one sitting at the table, in a sky blue shirt with a blazer over it. She thought he looked very nice.

House looked up when she got there and took a minute to admire her. She looked absolutely beautiful, although he wouldn't admit that out loud. In all actuality, he was getting a little ticked. Cuddy and Wilson weren't there yet, and he was already annoyed at having to go out and work at night, his free time.

"Hi," Cameron said, sitting down.

"Hey," House replied, looking back down at his empty plate on the table. And he was hungry. They needed to hurry up so he could order.

"Are we the first ones here?"

"Looks that way." Remain cold and distant. Just because she is absolutely stunning, is not a reason to lose that gruff House exterior.

Cameron was quiet as she looked down.

"You look nice." Damn, that put up a wall thing wasn't working.

She smiled. "Thanks. So do you."

There was more awkward silence before she finally spoke again. "So, any idea what this is about?"

"Nope." House responded. "And I'm getting impatient, I'm gonna call Cuddy." He picked up his cell phone and started to dial, but then a waiter came over and tried to tell him that he would have to take it outside. He promptly bit the waiter's head off, and continued to make the call as the man shrivelled away in terror.

Just then Cuddy's cell phone rang from behind the bush.

"Shhh!" The other four exclaimed, turning to her. "Why didn't you put that thing on silent?" Wilson asked. "They could look over here!"

"Sorry, sorry, relax, I got it." Cuddy said, as she answered the phone to stop the noise.

"Hello?" she tried to sound casual.

"Cuddy." House said. "Where are you? I don't have all night y'know. If this is so urgent then why aren't you here?"

"Oh, I'm on my way House. Just had a bit of car trouble. Just stay right there."

She quickly hung up before he had time to say anything else.

"Well?" Cameron asked.

"She said she's coming. Car trouble." He said that last part like he didn't believe it. "What's a guy gotta do to get a beer around here?" He asked, trying to flag down a waiter. He got one, and after House relayed the order to him, the man turned to Cameron, asking if he could get anything for her.

"Uh, just water please." She said politely.

Once they had their drinks, they realized this was looking more and more like a date. Except for the extremely large table part. Their waiter even come over and asked them if he could move them to a table for two, but House insisted that the others were coming. _They have to. They can't leave me alone here_.

House and Cameron tried to pass the time as innocently as they could. They made a little small talk, but nothing exciting was happening.

"Okay, you know what? This is ridiculous." Cuddy said, stepping back from the hiding spot. "They have a right to their privacy. We're being childish. We shouldn't be trying to shove them together. And look what kind of example we're setting for Hayley."

"Right, Hayley, after tonight, don't spy on anyone, it's wrong. And stay in school and don't do drugs." Foreman said quickly. Then turning to Cuddy, "Are you happy now?"

"Come on guys, something's gotta happen soon. If not, we'll call it off, okay?" Wilson said. They all seemed to agree on that, and so they went back into the huddle around the bush.

Five minutes later, Wilson's cell phone went off (_it_ was on silent).

"Where the hell are you?" Came House's voice.

"Uh, I'm coming, I just got a little delayed because of Julie. She was complaining about the tie I was wearing." He told the fib like it was nothing.

While House was doing that, Cameron was calling Foreman.

"Hey, I'll be right there, I'm just stuck in traffic."

"But you're coming from the parkway, there's no traffic on there tonight." She countered.

"Uh, I'm taking a different route tonight. Just hold on, I'm coming."

"Okay, everybody, cell phones off. They're supposed to be talking to _each other_, not you!" Hayley ordered.

The four adults promptly turned off their cell phones.

"So I guess they're not coming," Cameron said.

"Well, I'm starving, and we can just bill Cuddy for this, so why don't we eat?"

Cameron raised her eyebrows. "Are you asking me to have dinner with you?"

"No, I'm asking you to have a meal in the same vicinity as me because that's where we both happen to be."

Cameron smirked at this. "Okay, let's order then."

Forty minutes later, the two were involved in a very pleasant conversation as they finished their meals.

"No, I never could have been a surgeon. Too much blood."

"You're a _doctor_. Either way you're going to see blood!"

Cameron laughed. "True, but a surgeon sees more. I can stand seeing a little bit of blood. It's just massive hemorraging I can't stand."

"Well, I gotta admit, I used to hate giving needles," House said.

"No! You?!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, not very manly. And if you ever repeat that I'll kill you."

Cameron was surprised to be where she was right now. Having dinner with her boss, and actually having a conversation with him. She liked it. And House couldn't ignore the fact that it wasn't torture for him either.

"Look at that, they're laughing," Hayley said.

"Yeah, House is actually acting like a real human being," Foreman said, confusion evident in his voice.

"Focus on the positive. They're having a good time. Maybe they'll do this again."

"I wouldn't get your hopes up on that, sweetheart." Cuddy said. "Not unless we orchestrate it again. And we can't do it again. If we did, we'd end up organizing their wedding and manipulating them into coming to it."

"Should we order dessert?"

"Do you eat dessert?"

Cameron gave him a look. "The tiramisu looks good." He said.

"Okay."

"Awwww! Tiramisu, that's such a date dessert!" Cuddy squealed.

"What the hell is a date dessert?" Wilson asked, looking at her skeptically.

"A dessert that's adorable to have on a date!" Cuddy said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So, I guess we should get going," House said.

"Yeah, I guess. Are you okay to drive?"

House rolled his eyes. "I had _one_ beer, Cameron."

"Sorry, just checking."

They made their way out to the parking lot and waited for the valets to bring their cars around.

"So what do you think happened to the others?" Cameron asked.

"I don't know. It could have just been Cuddy and Wilson's way of annoying me."

"But then why would they bring me here too?"

"Maybe they thought you couldn't keep up the façade. Figured you'd come running to me to warn me."

She rolled her eyes as her car drove up. "Well, goodbye House. It was actually nice for a while having dinner with you."

"I thought I told you not to call it that!" She looked disappointed, so he added, "It was nice having your company too."

Allison Cameron smiled as she drove home that night.


	9. Chapter 9

That last break was ridiculous, I know. I'm so so sorry, it's just I got caught up in the Chameron love this season. :) Don't worry, I still ship HC, I'm actually both now, and will be getting back to this story.

And those of you that are still with me get the biggest hugs ever!

(gives loyal readers world's largest hugs)

Okay, let's get to it.

* * *

"Good morning traitor." 

Wilson looked up from his patient file. "Oh, is it time for our morning insult session already?"

"You know, for someone that claims to be my best friend, you really suck at it."

"Okay, I'll bite," Wilson said, closing the file and pushing it to the side. "What did I do now?"

House's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. This guy was not seriously going to make him say it. "You left me at the restaurant with Cameron!"

"Oh, was she the only one that showed?"

"Like you didn't know. It was all a set up, wasn't it?"

"House, whatever I tell you it won't matter. You're going to come to the conspiracy theory all on your own."

"I just don't get why you would do that to Cameron. I mean, we all know she likes me, but I figured you would want to shield her from the big bad House."

"Cameron can handle herself. But since when do you care about what happens to her?"

"Doesn't your head hurt yet?"

"Excuse me?" Wilson asked, confused.

"From always banging it up against the wall with the same bunch of bull. I don't know how many times I have to say it, I don't like Cameron!"

Wilson decided to get the conversation out of that nasty circle. "Did you have a nice time?"

"The beer wasn't strong enough."

"Yes, the quality of the beer is usually at the top of the list when people are judging their enjoyment at a restaurant."

"Well, I have better priorities than most."

"It wouldn't kill you to just admit you liked spending time with her. You did it at that Monster Truck rally a few months ago."

House thought back to that night. It _had_ been fun. And there was nothing romantic about it. But the problem was, the more times that happened, the more people were going to push.

"Well, it's been fun Jimmy boy, but I have lackeys to go bully." House got out of his chair and made his way to the door that led to Wilson's balcony.

"House," Wilson said, making a last ditch effort. The pill-popping doc stopped in front of the door and turned around. "It wouldn't be a bad thing, you know. If you liked her. If you had a relationship with her. You can't hibernate forever."

House said nothing, just continued out the door.

* * *

"Hey, guys, what did I miss last night?" Foreman asked, sitting down in a chair at the conference table. 

"Oh, you didn't make it either?" Chase replied, trying as hard as he could to put surprise into his voice.

Cameron smirked. "You are both terrible liars. Either that or you think I'm extremely dumb. I know it was a set up."

"Cameron, why would we-" Foreman started.

"I'd love to know that myself," Cameron said, cutting him off. "Maybe you thought it would be a funny joke, maybe there was some kind of bet involved, I don't know. But whatever the reason, you try it again and there will be consequences." She tried to give them her best hard stare.

"What happened?" Chase asked.

"Nothing. We sat, we ate, we left."

"No derogatory comments?" Foreman questioned.

"He was too busy calling Wilson every five minutes."

"No jokes about your feelings for him?" Chase asked.

"He wasn't in a joking mood. It seems neither of us like being misled like that."

"It couldn't have been that bad," Foreman said.

Cameron thought for a moment. How much did she want to tell them? "No, I guess it wasn't torture."

Before they could continue the conversation, House came through the door. His eyes met Cameron's and for a brief second they just looked at each other; like a silent message. Before it became detectable, House broke away and resumed his familiar demeanour.

"You know, if you guys are the best and brightest the medical field has to offer, I think the world is in big trouble."

They all rolled their eyes. "I take it the treatment didn't work?" Chase asked.

"You don't even know that?!" House exclaimed. He walked over to the whiteboard and picked up the black marker. "Okay, what haven't we ruled out yet?"

Throughout the DDX, Cameron found herself staring at House's hair, imagining what it would be like to run her fingers through it. After last night, she'd started to really look at those little things, daydreaming about her and House. It was like she was back in junior high and House was the boy that sat in front of her in English class.

But she wasn't alone. House snuck a few peeks her way too. The way her hair was brushed back, off her face. The way she'd carefully applied her makeup, so it enhanced her features yet didn't look like it was there. The way her forehead crinkled as she looked at the file, trying to make sense of the puzzle pieces in front of them.

That was when House had a scary thought: _What's happening to me?_

* * *

Wednesday night in the Cameron household was turning out just like all the rest. Cameron was lounged on the couch, flipping channels, trying to find something good on (she never did), and occasionally peering over Hayley's shoulder, who was seated on the floor in front of her, to help her with her homework. 

"So how was Jenna's last night? You guys have fun?" Cameron asked her daughter.

"Uh, yeah, it was great." Hayley responded.

"What'd you guys do?"

"You know, watched movies, braided our hair, stayed up late."

Cameron nodded.

"How was dinner?"

Cameron paused for a second. "How did you know about that?"

Hayley froze. Crap! After everything she'd done to make that happen, how could she have slipped up like that?

"Uh, you told me."

"No I didn't. I didn't get the message until after I dropped you off."

"Really? I thought you got it on the way over."

"I didn't have my cell phone with me on the way over."

Hayley couldn't come up with anything else to say.

"What's going on?" Cameron asked, confusion and concern in her voice.

Hayley turned around and looked up at her mom. "You have to promise not to get mad."

"Great, I love conversations that start out like this."

"Mommy," Hayley whined.

"Fine, fine, I won't get mad. Now tell me."

"Okay, well, remember when we had to go to the hospital the other night? Well, I was talking to Foreman and Chase, and we kind of came up with this plan…"

"A plan for what?"

"To get you to have dinner with Doctor House." There, she'd said it.

Cameron looked bewildered. "What?"

"Don't get mad at them, it was my idea. I thought that since he likes you and you like him, you should just have dinner already. So we set it up that you would meet at a restaurant. And then we hid behind a bush and watched." She looked down when she finished her little speech.

"Hayley, I can't believe you!"

"I'm sorry, Mom. I only did it 'cuz I want you to be happy."

"I don't care why you did it. Lying is wrong. What if I had called Jenna's house and you weren't there?"

Hayley said nothing.

"I thought I taught you better than that."

"I'm sorry, Mommy, I just wanted to help."

"Sweetie, my relationship with Dr. House is not something you should be worrying about. It's up to me to make decisions on that front."

"But if I leave it up to you we'll be waiting _forever_," Hayley complained.

Cameron raised her eyebrows. "Do you really like House all that much? You've only met him once or twice."

"I wasn't born yesterday! I can see that he likes you."

"Hayley, when people like each other it doesn't necessarily mean that they should be together. Sometimes it's just not a good match."

Hayley considered this for a moment. Then something occurred to her that she was kind of scared to ask, but she did anyway.

"Mommy, do you _want_ to find someone again?"

Cameron sighed. "Only if it's right. What I had with your dad was special, and so I guess I kind of compare every guy to him. But I'd like to be with someone again. Are you okay with that?"

"Like I said, I just want you to be happy."

Cameron beamed at her little girl. She opened her arms and motioned for Hayley to come forward. She did and Cameron wrapped her in a tight embrace. "I'm lucky to have you, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

"But you're still grounded."

* * *

You know what to do. 


	10. Chapter 10

I'm horrible, I know. But I really didn't think it had been this long without an update. I thought it had been maybe two weeks at most. Sorry about that.

But hey, this is the first time I've reached the double digits in chapter numbers, so how 'bout a 'yay' for that? lol

I do want to finish this story soon, and I have a big plot twist planned in order to do it, it's just finding filler that's keeping me from moving this along at a nice, steady pace.

Anyway, I'm going to shut up now so you can read and review!

* * *

It was that time of year again. The leaves were starting to change colours, the air was getting cooler, and people were starting to become aware of the approaching holidays; fall was coming. 

But for a certain immunologists' daughter, there was another occasion on its way, and a much more important one at that.

On September 29th, Hayley Cameron was turning 9 years old.

She'd been planning her birthday out in her head for months. She knew exactly what she wanted.

"No," Cameron said, not even bothering to look up from the morning paper.

"Aw, come on Mom," Hayley whined from her adjacent seat at the kitchen table.

"Hayley, do you not understand what 'no' means?"

"It's not like you'll have to do anything. I can do it by myself."

Finally, Cameron set the World News section down. "Hun, this is a big responsibility."

"I know."

"And what if you decide in a few months that you don't want it anymore?"

"I won't. I really really want this Mommy."

"Yeah, like the way you wanted that Scooter, or that Poo-chi, or that-"

"It's different this time!"

"That's what you say every time," her mother responded, unimpressed.

Okay, so begging wasn't working. Hayley decided it was time to try another tactic.

"Fine, I'll just ask Uncle Mike for one then."

Cameron's eyes widened with alarm. "You will do no such thing!" She caught a glance at her watch and noted the time. "Now, come on, you've gotta finish your breakfast and get ready for school."

Cameron closed the paper and got up, heading back into her bedroom to finish getting ready for work. Hayley continued to sit in the kitchen, not touching her food. She just looked around the empty kitchen.

"But I want a pony!"

* * *

"Good morning," Cameron said as she entered the diagnostics office. 

Foreman and Chase mumbled something in return, and she rolled her eyes. Those two could never come up with something better than that.

She made her way over to the coffee maker and started the pot, as usual. It was practically a reflex for her now.

While she was pouring the second scoop of coffee grinds into the filter, out of the corner of her eye she saw House limping into his office. She had been meaning to talk to him for a while now. They hadn't spoken about that night when they 'accidentally' had dinner together, and although she knew House didn't like to talk about feelings, she couldn't help herself; she had to talk to him.

Cameron pushed the 'on' button on the coffee maker and made a smooth exit out of the conference room through House's adjoining office door. When she entered, he was just slipping that ratty old blue backpack off his shoulder and planting his butt in the chair, preparing to start his day of doing absolutely nothing.

As he turned around in his swivel chair, he finally noticed her leaning against his metal bookshelf, and she was smiling at him.

"What?" House asked.

"I wanted to talk to you," was her only response.

"I'm pretty sure that's what you're already doing."

Cameron sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about our-"

"Don't say date!" House interrupted her. Cameron smiled again. So, he had been thinking about it too, how else would he have known what she was going to say?

"Our _dinner_," she finished.

"What about it? We sat, we ate, we left."

She smirked when he said that. They were exactly the same words she'd used when she was talking to the boys.

"Unless of course you want to discuss a revenge plot, then I'm all ears."

Cameron let out a small laugh. "No, I think Hayley's learned her lesson. And the rest of them have finally realized that they were taking orders from an almost-nine year old."

"_Almost_ nine year old?" House questioned.

Cameron shook her head. "Yeah, sorry, her birthday's coming up, so she's been going around saying that for the past few weeks." Then she realized that they were getting off topic. She didn't want to be talking about her kid when she was trying to talk about her relationship with House. If she started talking about Hayley, she'd fall back into her soft personality, and someone like that wouldn't be able to handle what she was about to do.

"Anyway," she started again. "I had a nice time, and I know you won't admit it, but I think you did too." She watched his features carefully for just a flicker of recognition, and maybe she was imagining things, but she thought she saw something in his eyes. It wasn't all that long or prominent, but she could swear she saw his eyes glisten for a second, they way they do when thinking of a fond memory. Even if it wasn't there, Cameron decided to let herself think that it was, so she could keep the nerve she'd built up in order to have this conversation.

"Do you want to come over for dinner?"

Even House was surprised by the question. He wasn't surprised that she wanted to have dinner with him, he was already very well aware of her feelings for him; it was her boldness that surprised him. She just came out and asked, didn't hesitate, didn't stutter; she just said it.

He was silent for a moment, and Cameron started to panic slightly. What had she just done? She'd asked her boss out, or rather, in, on a date. Something that was definitely not in line with hospital protocol. And he hadn't said anything. The only thing worse than not being berated by House the instant you opened your mouth was him not saying anything, and making you sweat it out, not knowing which direction he would go.

"Okay," he said simply.

Cameron did a double take. "What did you just say?"

"I said 'okay'. Two syllables, used to signify my agreement with or approval of the previous event or statement."

"Oh." Now that it had been done, Cameron didn't know what to say. "Okay then. Um, how's tonight, around 7? I was thinking we could order Chinese or something."

House gave a short nod, and she backed out of the room as quickly as she could. When she re-entered the conference room, Foreman and Chase noticed she was starting to blush, so she turned away from them, busying herself with the now fresh pot of coffee.

Tonight it was then.

* * *

"You're sleeping over at Maddie's," Cameron said as soon as Hayley got into the car. 

Hayley set her backpack down on the floor and looked at her mother with confusion written all over her face. "What?"

"Maddie, Jessica, Caitlyn, I don't care, just call one of them and get yourself invited over."

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

"I have a date with House tonight."

"Really?!" Hayley squealed.

"Yes. He's coming over, and we're going to have dinner. _Without_ an audience this time." She turned to Hayley and smiled playfully.

"So, did he like, ask you out or something?"

Cameron pushed down on the brake pedal as she neared a red light. "No, I asked him."

Hayley took a minute to try and wrap her head around that. In her little almost-nine year old mind, that wasn't how it was supposed to work. There was supposed to be flowers and candles, and the guy was supposed to serenade the girl with romantic gestures and conversation. At least that's how it was in the movies and fairytales.

But in the seat next to her, the older Cameron was thinking about how much she felt like she was in the movies or a fairytale.


	11. Chapter 11

What's this? Two updates in one month?!

This chapter is dedicated to Limaccia, who pointed out a mistake I made in the last chapter. I hope you like.

* * *

Cameron raced around her living room, grabbing odds and ends off the floor as she went. She'd dropped Hayley off an hour ago and had changed into a silky red drape neck sleeveless top and a pair of black low rise jeans. She didn't want to look too fancy, but she wanted to look nice for House; she just hoped she hadn't gone overboard. 

But Cameron was starting to panic. She'd intended for it to be casual, ordering take-out and such, just to keep them both comfortable, but a part of her had started to think that maybe it wouldn't matter, maybe it still wouldn't work. She'd never dated or tried to date anyone like House, so she was lost. She wasn't sure how to act or what to say, and that scared her. It scared her a lot.

She took the pile of stuff she'd picked up from the living room (mostly Hayley's junk that she hadn't cleaned up) into her room and threw it on the bed. There was no time to try and put them all back in their rightful places. Then she headed over to her dresser and fished out a pair of pale pink shell earrings. As she was fastening the second one to her earlobe, the doorbell rang, causing her to miss the hole and stab her ear.

"Ow!" she exclaimed. She threw down the earring in frustration and headed out to the common area.

She stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath, smoothing out her outfit before she opened it. On the other side she found House, looking clean-shaven and dressed in a pale blue dress shirt and dark blue jeans. He had on his motorcycle jacket, and Cameron couldn't help but think about how cute he looked in it. She'd always loved guys with bikes.

"So are we eating out in the hallway or are you gonna let me in?"

Cameron shook her head to rid the thoughts and stepped aside, letting House past. He entered her living room and glanced around, as if sizing the place up.

"Would you like something to drink?" Cameron asked as she came around the other side of the couch.

"Yeah, a beer would be great."

Cameron frowned. "House, I have an eight year old daughter, I don't keep beer in the house."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, no wonder you're so uptight."

She frowned again and when he saw the glint of hurt in her eyes he immediately felt a pang of guilt.

"A soda's fine then."

She made her exit and he took a seat on the couch. On the wall he noticed pictures of Cameron and Hayley, identical smiles on their faces. He'd wondered, sometimes, if maybe he had been wrong. When Cameron got pregnant and her husband died she certainly had options, but she'd chosen to keep the baby. Even though it made going to school and pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor a thousand times more complicated, she did it. Perhaps he had been wrong about how much she'd loved her late husband. Perhaps he'd been wrong about her.

Cameron came back with two sodas, and handed him one. Then she sat down on the couch, not too close but not too far from him. There was silence as they just looked at each other, both unsure of what to say. But after a few minutes, House started to look at her strangely, and Cameron became nervous again. That rising fear she had that he was going to tear her to shreds at some point in the evening came back up, and she couldn't push it away.

"Is that the new style?" House asked.

Cameron's eyebrows descended to display confusion. "Huh?"

House motioned towards her. "You're only wearing one earring."

Her hand automatically went up to her ear and she pulled the lone earring out with haste, setting it down on the coffee table. She started to blush but then quickly changed the subject. "Do you wanna order?"

"Sure, what were you thinking?"

Cameron stopped, surprised that he'd actually asked her opinion, instead of just thrusting out his.

"You said something about Chinese, right?" She nodded. "Well then, Chinese it is."

Cameron got up and headed into the kitchen to get the take-out menu from a Chinese place she and Hayley frequented. As she opened the designated "menu drawer" she realized she was smiling. No, not smiling, she was grinning, from ear to ear. Maybe this would work out.

* * *

One hour later Cameron and House were engaged in animated chatter amongst a sea of Chinese cuisine. She was surprised at how easy they'd fallen into conversation. It started with him noticing her CD collection, which included the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith, much to House's amazement. As he'd remarked to her, "So you're not a complete loser." 

"No he doesn't!"

"Yes, he does."

"No," Cameron said with finality, putting down her fork full of rice. "I'm telling you, Mr. Clean _does not_ have an earring."

"And I'm telling you," House replied. "He does. How could you not notice it in the commercials?!"

Admittedly, it was a stupid conversation, but it was one of the best conversations she'd ever had with House. He wasn't insulting her, nobody was about to die on their watches, and he was loosening up. It was nice.

However, they were interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door.

Cameron couldn't fathom whom it could be, but got up and answered it anyway.

On the other side she found Hayley, struggling to keep a hold on her duffle and sleeping bags without tumbling over.

"Honey, what are you doing here?" Cameron whispered.

"Maddie had to go to Cleveland, so her mom drove me home."

At this point House had gotten up and come over to the door, standing behind Cameron. His presence behind her did not go unnoticed, and Cameron had to fight to keep from taking the tiniest step backwards so their bodies would touch.

"Hi Dr. House," Hayley said cheerfully when she saw him.

"Hey kid," House replied, less enthusiastically.

Cameron reached forward and grabbed Hayley's stuff, so she could come inside. Hayley immediately picked up the smell of the food in the air and couldn't stop herself.

"Chinese!" she exclaimed.

House and Cameron exchanged a glance, House pleading with his eyes for Cameron to deal with this.

"Uh, hun, what happened exactly?" Cameron asked.

"Maddie's Grandma fell and broke her hip, so Maddie and her family have to go up there to like, help her with stuff. They had to leave tonight, so I couldn't stay over. Her mom said to say she's sorry."

Cameron sighed. _If she only knew…_

Hayley was still eyeing the food, so Cameron had to ask.

"Did you eat over there?"

"Not really. I mean, we had some Sour Patch Kids and stuff."

Cameron and House both knew what that meant. Cameron wasn't going to let her daughter go to bed without a full meal. So, their date had now become a threesome.

Cameron went into the kitchen to grab another plate and House and Hayley made their way over to the couch. The whole time, House was glaring at her.

"What?" Hayley asked him.

"You really have incredible timing, you know that?"

Hayley looked down. "Did I screw up your date?"

House's eyes widened. He and Cameron had been having a good time, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to admit to what this was; a date.

"There's nothing to screw up," he answered non-chalantly. "We're just eating."

Hayley nodded. "Good, then pass me an egg roll."

* * *

As it turned out, dinner with Cameron and her kid wasn't so bad for House. Hayley, in contrast to her mother, was good at cracking jokes and engaging people in fruitful conversation. House even found himself laughing at times. No, spending time with the Cameron girls was turning out to be an enjoyable experience. 

Cameron looked at her watch. "Hayle, it's getting late, you need to go to bed."

"Aw, Mom, do I have to?!" her daughter whined.

"Yeah, Mom, does she have to?!" House jumped in.

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Yes, now go before I have to tickle you!" she reached over and started to tickle Hayley, who squealed and ran off to her bedroom, shouting, "Okay, okay, but you have to come in and say goodnight."

House started to become uncomfortable by the domesticity of the situation, and pushed himself off the couch.

"Where are you going?" Cameron asked.

"Well, like you said, it's getting late, I should be going."

"Oh," she said, disappointment evident in her voice.

House paused, not sure how to take that. Was it an invitation to stay, or was it an invitation to ask to stay? Or was it just her realizing he was right and being saddened by it?

They once again fell into silence as they looked at each other. But it was then that Cameron decided enough was enough, she was going to make her move.

"Could you stay? It will just take me a minute to get Hayley to sleep."

A smile tugged at House's lips, but he forced it back, and simply replied, "Sure," and sat back down on the couch.

She was right; it didn't take her that long, and when she came back out Cameron and House picked up their conversation again. They talked for about another half hour, and then House said he really should get going.

Cameron walked him to the door, and they lingered for a few moments. The night had been nice, but House wasn't going to automatically morph into some gentleman who shared his feelings and said warm and fuzzy things. But Cameron wasn't looking for that. She knew damn well that House wasn't Prince Charming, and she was okay with that. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be here; there were plenty of other guys out there that would treat her like a Queen, it wouldn't be hard for her to get one. But she didn't want any of them; she wanted House, the whole damaged package.

And yet they lingered. Thoughts of the night they'd had flashed in House's mind, and Cameron's pulse raced. To kiss, or not to kiss, that was the question.

She moved her hand across her body and it swept up against his. They both started, but then calmed down and continued their little dance. Then, like a sudden burst of electricity from inside her, Cameron stepped forward and kissed him.

And she didn't hold back. She went deep, grabbing the back of his head with her hands and pushing her whole body up against him. She didn't let herself think about the consequences, or House's reaction, she just went for it, all in.

House was startled at first, but didn't want to push her away. Instead, he let her come close to him, and he reached around her too, grasping the small of her back with his right hand, trying to keep his balance using the cane in his left. He kissed her back; and they just stayed there, completely unaware of time or anything around them. They were just in this moment, together.

Eventually Cameron broke away, but she didn't take her eyes off him, nor he off her. This time the silence wasn't awkward, it was welcome, they didn't need words right now.

When he finally did slip out of her apartment it was silent, their only communication was through their eyes. Cameron's were begging for more, and House's were wishing he could. But for now, that was as far as they could go.

Cameron quietly shut the door and leaned back against it. Then she let out a squeal and sank to the floor, a giant smile on her face.

* * *

A/N: I know, the Mr. Clean thing was stupid, but I needed something to go in there, I couldn't think of anything, and then my mom and I had the same argument the other night (she brought it up, not me). So yeah, I'm a dork. But I'm a dork that would love your reviews! 


	12. Chapter 12

This chapter is dedicated to my best online friend, Isis. Happy birthday honey!!!

* * *

House walked into the clinic at precisely 9:28 am. Ignoring the surprised glances from the nurses, he signed in and grabbed a file off the top of the Mount Everest stack. Without any protest, he glanced at the patient name and called the middle-aged man into exam room one. 

Lisa Cuddy was in her office on the phone with a supplier when she witnessed this event. Equally as surprised as the nurses, she ended the call and headed out of her office to find out just what had gotten into her brilliant diagnostician.

She knocked on the door once before it opened to reveal the pill popping doc.

"Booty call, Cuddy? Not now, I'm with a patient."

It looked like House, it sounded like House, but...

Cuddy shook her head. "What are you doing?"

House stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. "My clinic hours. What does it look like?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what it looks like. That's why I'm asking."

It was House's turn to shake his head. "Well then, I'm confused Cuddy. You harp on me all day to do them, and then when I come down here, you...complain?"

Cuddy quickly saw the opportunity escaping her and backpedaled. "No, no, it's not that. I'm just...surprised. Did something happen, House?"

"Nope. Just people getting sick. That's all. And speaking of which, I should probably get back now. See ya." With that he slid back into the room and shut the door in her face.

Cuddy stood there in shock for a moment, but then a smile emerged on her face. _Fine, you won't tell me what's going on, I'll just have to find someone who will..._

* * *

James Wilson considered himself a man of great patience. He had to be, in order to deal with the people he did every day. Not just his patients, but his fellow doctors too. In particular, his friendship with House had taught him to hone these skills, so when the Dean of Medicine came barrelling into his office even before ten o'clock to rant and rave about House, James was not surprised. 

"It was just so _weird,_ y'know? I know he's hiding something from me." Wilson sat back in his chair and watched Cuddy pace in front of his desk, one hand on her hip, the other flailing around recklessly.

"Well, if something did happen, he hasn't mentioned it to me."

She stopped and turned towards him. "Do you think that's possible? What could have happened that he wouldn't tell anyone though? It has to be bad."

Wilson held up a hand. "Okay, before you go there, why don't we wait for him to come to us? This may just be nothing, he just might not have gotten a chance to tell me yet."

Cuddy finally sat down in the chair opposite Wilson. "I hope you're right."

* * *

In the conference room, Cameron, Foreman, and Chase had set into their usual routine; Cameron made the coffee while they sat at the table with their noses buried in one journal or another, not even offering to help. But on this particular morning, something was off, and both Foreman and Chase noticed it. 

Cameron was humming. She was pouring the coffee grinds into the machine and she was _humming_.

Foreman spoke up first. "Uh, Cam? Is there something you wanna tell us?"

She turned from where she stood in front of the sink. "Like what?"

"Perhaps the reason you're so...happy this morning?" Chase answered.

She was silent for a minute, as though debating what to tell them.

"There's no reason, can't a girl just be happy every once in a while?" She went back to pouring water into the coffee machine.

"Well yeah, sure, we just...thought something might have happened." Foreman replied, now cautious of his words, unsure of what exactly he and Chase were getting themselves into.

Beneath her long brown hair that had fallen in front of her face, Cameron was smirking. She was enjoying this. She had enjoyed last night. A part of her did want to tell Foreman and Chase was happened, but the other part of her knew that House would be ticked if she did, and she didn't want to screw up whatever was happening between them.

So she stayed silent. She sat down at the table after making the coffee and picked up a medical journal, waiting with the boys for House to grace them with his presence, and a case.

* * *

By the end of the day no new cases had come across House's desk, so he and the ducklings were preparing to go home. He hadn't talked to Cameron yet, and it wasn't a case of not wanting to. A part of him did, a lot. But there was that other part, the one that was screaming at him to stay away, the memories of Stacy all too prominent in his mind. 

Zipping up his backpack he turned to see the immunologist in question leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey," she offered sweetly.

"Interesting day, huh?"

She smiled and came further into the room, stopping at the corner of his desk.

"So are we ever gonna talk about it?"

Once again, her boldness caught him off guard. And he couldn't help but think that he had something to do with it. When she first came to work with him she was like china. Fragile, unsteady at times, careful with the moves she made because if she hit the floor she would break into a million pieces. He'd secretly made her his project. Make her stronger, teach her to be a better doctor. Maybe it was working.

He leaned back against the shelf that held his magic eight ball and crossed his bad leg over his good.

"Nah, I thought we could dance around it for a while, avoid eye contact, blush when we passed each other in the hall, and then you could get Hayley to call Wilson and ask him if I'm gonna ask you out again."

She smirked. "Oh, of course."

He gave her a small smile back. "This isn't junior high Cameron. Of course we're going to talk about it."

She leaned against the glass topped desk. 'Okay then. Do you regret it?"

He sucked in a breath before responding, "No."

"Good, neither do I."

"Well then, what's the next logical step?"

She twirled his red and grey ball around in her hands for a few moments before responding.

"I can get a babysitter for Hayley."

House smiled. "I'll pick you up at seven."

* * *

And where are they going? Review to find out! (And yes, I'm pretty much completely done the next chapter so if you review, you will get it). 


	13. Chapter 13

Last chapter we passed 100 REVIEWS!!! This is the first story of mine to do that. Yay!

So here's what happened with this chapter:

I didn't lie to you, I had two thirds of it typed when I posted Chapter 12. But then I realized that I needed to do some more research, and I had to put that off until after school ended. Then I got a little unsure about the storyline, and you will understand why after you read it, if you've done the same research I had to do (I realize I'm talking in code, maybe I should put this AN at the end, huh?). But I decided to hell with it, added a third section, and ta da! From this point on we're going to speed up the story, because I'm desperate to end it, so I hope you enjoy what's left.

There's only one way to describe this chapter: fluff. But some fluff is nice every once in a while. Please R&R.

* * *

Cameron wasn't sure what exactly House had in mind for them tonight, so she wasn't sure what to wear. Currently, she was standing in front of her bed where every potential date item in her closet was spread out. Everything from fancy dinner attire to casual outfits like the one she wore to the monster truck rally. 

She smiled. That had been a good night. It was the first time she'd gotten to see that side of House, the fun, laid back, easy to be around side. He put up this front all the time, making it hard for people to get to know him, and she got why he did that. If she'd been through what he had she didn't know how she'd deal. But what she did know, or at least liked to think she knew, was that side of House she had been privy to at the monster truck rally was a side not many people got to see. Outside of Wilson and maybe Cuddy, she was probably the only one at the hospital that he was that comfortable around. It gave her faith that maybe something could happen between them.

But that was all what ifs and speculation. And none of it mattered in the here and now. Right now she needed to figure out what to wear.

As if someone had read her thoughts, the phone rang at that exact instant. She lifted the receiver and grinned when she heard the gruff voice on the other side.

"Hey."

"The black sleeveless top with a jacket and any low rider jeans."

"What?"

"Well, I'm assuming that right now you're about to rip your hair out because I didn't specify where we're going. You don't know what to wear."

It scared her sometimes that he knew her that well.

"Gee, thanks. Do I get any more hints about where we're going?"

"Nope, see ya in a few."

With that he hung up and she rolled her eyes. Leaving House to his own devices could be dangerous; who knew where he was taking her? Against what would have been her better judgement, she decided to trust him with the date-planning.

_Now where did I put that top?

* * *

_

Just like he said he would, House showed up at 7 o'clock, and poking his head in to give a nod to Hayley, who had yelled out a greeting before the babysitter shushed her, smiled at Cameron before leading her out to his car.

As they sped down the turnpike Cameron tried to pry more information out of House, but he was tight lipped. The more he avoided the questions the more annoyed she became, and thus, the more amusing it was to House.

When they finally pulled into the parking lot of their destination Cameron was, to put it mildly, surprised.

"What? You don't like movies?" he asked, noticing her look.

"No, it's not that. I just thought you'd come up with some elaborate date; figured you were above lame dinner and a movie dates."

"Well, I thought about taking you on that new roller coaster, what's it called? Death-something or Something-death? But it would've messed with my hair."

She laughed. "Right, of course it would've."

"Now c'mon, the line's probably already out the door."

Once inside they joined the line of people waiting to get tickets and Cameron looked up at the screen listing the currently playing titles.

"So what are we seeing?"

"You tell me."

She raised her eyebrows. This was the second time he'd done that, asked for her opinion. He did it when they had dinner the other night too.

"But not that Resse Witherspoon one, it looks like crap."

She smirked before looking back at the list, not bothering to tell House that she wouldn't pay good money to see _Just Like Heaven_ either.

"What about that one?" Before she could even take in the whole list, House had made a pick himself.

"No way," Cameron said immediately.

"What? You _scared_?" House teased.

"No," she replied a little defensively. "I'm not scared, I just spend my entire day dealing with death or impending death, I'd rather not spend all of my free time around it too."

"It's called _The __Exorcism__ of Emily Rose_, meaning she's already dead," House argued.

"Well, you asked for my opinion, and I say no. Pick another one."

"Fine." They deliberated in silence for a few moments as the line moved a little. It was Cameron who finally made the next suggestion.

"What about _Flightplan_?"

House rolled his eyes. "You do realize that's a horror movie too, right?"

"Yes, but it's probably not as bad as the other one. Besides, I like Jodie Foster."

House sighed. Considering their other choices, it was about as good as they were gonna get. And he figured it couldn't be that bad. "Okay, _Flightplan_ it is."

* * *

Settled in with their popcorn and about an hour into the movie Cameron and House were both enjoying themselves. Who would have thought a few months ago that they would be doing this? Cameron smiled to herself as she thought of the looks on all the naysayers' faces if they found out this was happening. After all the humiliation she'd received for her feelings for House, it was a little childish, but she wanted to just go, "Neh neh neh neh neh". 

"Ouch!"

She turned in the direction of the flying object and saw House, grinning at her and holding a few kernels of popcorn, aimed right at her.

"Oh, that's mature."

"Oh come on, do it with me!" He sounded like an eight year old boy.

"House, this isn't a popcorn throwing movie," Cameron countered.

"_Every_ movie is popcorn throwing movie," he said before launching the pieces at a woman's head three rows down.

"House!" Cameron chastised in as loud a whisper as she would allow herself to go.

"Somebody's a party pooper."

_That_ did it.

Cameron reached into her own bag of butter covered goodies and aimed her first assault right at House, hitting him smack in the middle of the forehead.

"Nice," he said as he grabbed for more ammunition. "Okay, I bet I can throw farther than you can."

"I bet you can't," Cameron replied as she and House both threw kernels down the theatre, hitting two unsuspecting men, one in front of the other. The one further up turned around to look where the kernels had come from and House grabbed Cameron's hand, pulling her down in their seats as they both stifled laughter. The man finally gave up looking and turned back to the screen.

"That was so wrong," Cameron said, not a hint of remorse in her voice.

"Yeah, it was. But mine went farther."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Shhh!" They both quieted down, using their popcorn for its intended purpose and went back to watching the movie, before they got themselves kicked out.

* * *

Two hours later House and Cameron were walking up to her apartment door. His gentlemanly nature surprised her, but she decided not to question it. Not tonight, it had been going too well. 

"So," she started, when they reached the entryway. "I had a nice time tonight."

"Yeah, that movie wasn't bad. Except for the part where it was predictable and unrealistic."

She laughed a little as she rolled her eyes. "Well I'm sorry it wasn't a shoot 'em up bang bang type, but I have my limits, and if you want to continue spending time with me, you're just going to have to get used to that."

What he said next caught her off guard. "I do want to keep spending time with you."

Inside, she was doing cartwheels and squealing like a 12 year old girl. Outside, she just smiled. "I'm glad."

He pushed off the wall he was leaning against to give his leg a break and moved closer to her. "So then, if there's me and there's you, and we spend a lot of time together, and we occasionally kiss, isn't there a name for that?"

Her small smile was teetering on the brink of a full fledged grin. "I don't know, do they?"

"I think it involves the word 'boy' and the word 'girl'," he continued, looking up at the ceiling as if trying to recall something difficult.

She knew he was going to make her be the one to say it.

"Fine House. Yes, I'll be your girlfriend."

He didn't let himself grin too much, but she expected that. Instead, he looked down at her and uttered nonchalantly, "Okay, if you insist."

Then he planted one on her lips.

* * *

A/N: Remember, according to the timeline of this story we are only in September of 2005. I did a quick google search for movies that opened in theatres at that time and found those three (and since I hadn't seen Flightplan, I rented it; the aforementioned research. Although at the time I thought I was going to put more info from the movie in than I did. So basically now the delay seems pointless. Sorry). 

Review and I promise not to say I'm going to update and then not update. :)


End file.
